Maybe I'm alone on this, but I don't blame the big beer companies for trying gimmicks. Really, I imagine these "innovations" come from the ad companies. Imagine trying to grow revenue for a product that doesn't change. Hard job right? And companies are always trying to grow market share, increase revenue. If that means trying to find new ways to market their product, I have a hard time blaming them. Coors light/miller light have a hard time highlighting their beer attributes. If Coors was honest, they'd advertise it as "A crappy beer made with a corn base to save money". Or Miller, "a beer that somehow tastes salty". They are forced to go in a different direction.
Actually... http://adage.com/article/agency-news/millercoors-launches-creative-review-miller-lite/294544/ That may be exactly what happened.
Exactly. I don't think its any worse than the tired "Drink our beer and its a party with hot chicks everywhere!" Say what you will about Coors, they have excellent brand alignment with Coors/Coors Light coming from their mountain theme and the coldness of their beer as a result. The mountains are a gimmick, but its not like the Miller Lite gimmicks that didn't make much sense. All those light beers are more or less the same. Might as well stick to your branding and try to differentiate yourself on something tangible than the ambiguous "party" angle that Bud Light has went with the last 5 years, which is why they've seen some of their brand equity erode. But not as much as Budweiser who have been too busy using their ads to hit you over the head with AMERICA! and CUTE ANIMALS! that really have nothing to do with their product, which has been falling in quality and whose brand share has been plummenting for the last decade. Miller Lite had a similar issue with no identity and being tied to "great taste" and stupid gimmicks until they went to their roots with the nostalgia angle with the vintage packaging and their status as the first light beer, and suddenly they've had a resurgence.
Not exactly. Coors Light and Miller Lite have been handled separately by different agencies since they dropped DraftFCB back in 2012. A new creative agency was created specifically to retain all the legacy Coors Light account people but rid themselves of the DraftFCB baggage and douchelord creative director who butted heads with MillerCoors CMO from the start. Basically, they had a problem with everything Miller Lite, but loved the Coors Light work, so thats why the carve out happened. Miller Lite has had success, but the last 2 years has been an amalgamation of agencies working the creative for the account which isnt very sustainable long term.
Packaging and labels can have a profound impact. Hard to believe how a simple change in the cans appearance can drive consumers to buy more just based on look. Miller will be a text book example of this. This label has caused Millers revenue to grow This one caused it to stagnate and market share decrease. Hard to believe this video didn't work. I mean, c'mon, what more could you want?
Off the top of my head i can easily think of a handful of other things they could have gone with other than "Our beer gets cold". But since they've been running these ads for years now, they must be somewhat effective. Which says more about the general public than it does about Coors. " Hey bra, how 'bout a beer?" "Make it a Coors Lite, yo. I hear that shit gets mad cold"
Oh, it's not at all hard for me to believe. I've actually heard people get excited about the hi-vis orange Busch cans that come out every year at hunting season. Cheap beer and killing animals. Pure genius, that one.
Do you like your beer warm or cold? Probably cold. So blatant imagery and copy that calls attention to Coors Light allows easy association with cold=good --> coors light=cold --> coors light=good. When most people have no allegiance to any of the "big 3" light brands, thats a good and easy heuristic for the consumer. Its Marketing 101.
I like the rejected slogan I wrote for Budweiser: "Budweiser: plug your nose while drinking it and it doesn't taste like pee!"
I work at an agency that has MillerCoors as a client, as mentioned in the article, some of the work has been handed to a bunch of shops. You should see some of the stuff marketing tests show that team and the associations that get created with brands as JWags described. Now if you ask someone who doesn't like beer at all, all of it tastes like pee and old man balls rubbed in grass. Marketing be damned.
Ehh even craft beers follow trends. Southern Tier had a craft hit on their hands with Pumking and now every fall all the "craft" breweries have nutmeg and cinnamon laced beers with similar play on word names.
I thought the idea was supposed to be that the taste is optimal when it reaches a certain temperature? It kind of reminds me of my husband, who is picky about the coldness of his sodas. If he grabs a bottle out of a cooler at the gas station or whatever, he will reject it if it isn't cold enough to his standards.
What do Coors light and sex in a canoe have in common? Spoiler They're both fucking close to water. One of the best campaigns I have seen is for Michelob Ultra. I tip my hat to them. It has been successfully marketed as the fitness beer, because it only has 95 Calories and 2.6 carbs. Miller Lite, since it's Bob Eucker original ad days has a whopping 96 Calories and 3.2 carbs. I've asked some friends that drink this regular at home or when we go out, "hey do you like the taste of that?" And, almost all of them say, "well it's low calorie and low carb." They're usually very surprised when I show them a Miller Lite label. Personally, I prefer Miller Lite for my light beer, as I think they actually accomplish their "Tastes Great / Less Filling" goal. I think the Bud Light commercials have been better over the years, but it doesn't influence me to drink it. And, I'd rather be in the Rocky Mountains, but I do not care for Coors Light - it just tastes like watery beer to me.
Miller / Bud / Coors light beer taste best when they are very cold. I know some others do it, but Sierra Nevada Pale Ale specifically says best when served cool, not cold (like 45-50 degrees instead of 30-35 degrees)
I thought I'd be upset with the Eagles losing as it meant no free medium coffee the next day at Dunkin. But they have a new dark roast and I guess since it's Coffee Day or something, I still got a free dark roast. You know what's better than Dunkin Donuts coffee? FREE Dunkin Donuts coffee. This weekend I got invited to a House of Delegates swimming conference in the city. I'm staying over at the hotel and getting LOTS of free food. It better not suck. Or else..I'll do nothing. Beer isn't my first choice because I'm a whore for sweet drinks, but I like Miller Genuine Draft. My palate is immaculate.